10 Best Games Like Until Dawn

It’s not uncommon to feel primal frustration at horror films whose protagonists have caused their own demise. At times, you might have even wished that you could gain control of them and knock some common sense into their thick skulls; well, with games like Until Dawn, you finally can.

Until Dawn popularized a new sub-genre of horror games, called interactive drama where it’s practically a movie that you can control. It eventually ends after a few hours, but thankfully, there are similar games that let you be an armchair director. Not all of them fall under the horror genre, but regardless, you might end up playing them from dusk until dawn. Here are 10 of the best games like Until Dawn.

The Quarry

Naturally, if you want games like Until Dawn, then look no further than the other games in the developer’s portfolio. The latest one is The Quarry. Like Until Dawn, it’s a bonafide interactive drama horror.

Of course, the players will also assume control of a group of teenage counselors who find themselves among supernatural creatures and murderous locals during the last day of their summer camp. 

If you’re looking to relive that 1980s slasher film vibe more intimately, then The Quarry is your best bet.

The Dark Pictures Anthology

Another game from Supermassive Games, the developers for The Quarry and Until Dawn, The Dark Pictures Anthology is a collection of interactive horror drama games released in a seasonal format. These would be: 

• Man of Medan
• Little Hope
• House of Ashes
• The Devil in Me

It’s not done yet as there’s still an upcoming Directive 8020 for its second season. Like Until Dawn, you also get to control the horror film characters using quick-time events (QTEs) and other interactive command prompts each helping you determine a different result.

Detroit: Become Human

Detroit: Become Human is another story-driven and narrative-heavy game though it’s not exactly horror. It’s also not an interactive drama though there are plenty of moments and scenarios that make it similar in style and format to Until Dawn.

At its core, Detroit: Become Human is a story adventure game revolving around a buddy cop story. An old cop with extreme prejudice against android officers is paired with– you guessed it, an android officer, in order to solve complex cases. 

With that kind of premise alone, you can expect a similar gameplay to Until Dawn but with a story more daring as it questions the essence of humanity and toys with existentialism.

Beyond: Two Souls

Beyond: Two Souls is an action thriller that’s also an interactive drama game where the protagonist is modeled after and acted by Elliot Page. He played the role of Jodie Holmes in the game, someone with a connection to a mysterious entity that lent her supernatural powers.

The game is all about making choices for Jodie Holmes throughout the 18 years of her life in the game, starting at age 7. More importantly, it plays with the premise of what transpires in a person’s life after death, explored through Jodie’s eyes.

Life is Strange

Speaking of games that let you ruminate about life, Life is Strange is another title. It’s a graphic adventure game that lets you control Max Caulfield, an 18-year-old girl who somehow discovered that she could rewind time at any moment and adjust her actions in the past to reshape her present.

That’s where ‌player agency comes in. You get to decide what happens to Max’s life and how her future or present will appear. However, the game has its limitations on that matter since it still follows a story. However, the execution and the idea are quite novel– even for a story-driven game.

Telltale’s The Walking Dead

For another story-driven game, Telltale’s The Walking Dead offers a somewhat closer experience. If you can get past the cartoonish graphics and the less realistic visual style, then you’ll be rewarded with a compelling tale of human resiliency amid a zombie apocalypse.

That’s also partly what makes it similar; zombies are a constant threat as much as ‌power struggles in a lawless society. This episodic action-adventure game will have you deciding key conversations between the characters and witnessing some rather dramatic outcomes based on your choices.

Oxenfree

Speaking of graphic adventure games with lighthearted visual styles, Oxenfree is another one and it’s a mesmerizing tale about a group of friends in the 1980s who managed to open a ghost portal. Like most horror and supernatural stories involving 1980s kids, it was initially supposed to be a fun party.

Then it quickly turned into a mystery thriller where you control the group of kids as they bumble about and try to explore the new environment they’ve opened while unlocking its dangerous secrets. It’s not as nerve-wracking or as horrific as Until Dawn and the other fully-fledged horror games on this list, but Oxenfree has its own coming-of-age story charm.

Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered

Fahrenheit is the remaster of the 2005 adventure game, Indigo Prophecy. It comes with new and updated graphics with the story from the original intact. Indigo Prophecy is a story about the prophetic Indigo Child who must tell someone the secret of the universe and grant the listener unlimited power– if not, then the world will be destroyed.

So it’s up to you as the players to find and have a lengthy dialog with the Indigo Child about ascending yourself into godhood instead of getting destroyed along with the world. Pretty good deal and a lot of other ‌people think so too; you’ll have to keep them away. It’s one of the underrated classics of gaming that deserved a second shot at popularity.

L.A. Noire

L.A. Noire is probably the most action-packed title here as it also lets you have a shootout as a Los Angeles detective. But that’s just a small part of the game. The bigger part would be investigations and interviews with the NPCs made possible with the game’s “cutting edge” motion capture software.

You’ll have to conduct interrogations and pick the right answers based on clues and criminal profiling. To help you with this, the game’s realistic facial expression feature based on their developer’s motion capture tech will let you guess who’s lying based on their tone, mannerisms, and spasms. It’s a unique feature that never really took off in the gaming industry.

Heavy Rain

Lastly, we have Heavy Rain. It’s a crime thriller action-adventure game based on QTEs where players can control four protagonists involved in the manhunt for the enigmatic and dangerous Origami Killer. It’s a serial killer that leaves behind origamis on the crime scene as some kind of signature and to tease the police.

Moreover, the Origami Killer apparently only strikes during sequences of heavy rainfall, hence the title. As far as games go, it’s one of the most cinematic and unique horror experiences with plenty of homages and callbacks to certified thriller blockbusters like Silence of the Lambs, Zodiac, and Se7en. In short, it’s the perfect game to play once you’re done with your fill of other games like Until Dawn.